Last Saturday, my flatmates and I decided to have a dinner together to celebrate only having a week left in the program. At that moment, I don't think it was really hitting that I will be leaving London incredibly soon. To be honest, I don't think it will hit me until I am back home. Than the water works will fall into a pathetic melt down of forever depression. Anyways, we wanted Mexican and ended up getting burritos from the Wahaca Street Van. This little London chain was probably the best burrito I have ever experienced in my entire life. To make it even better, we ate on a little bench right on the South Bank and just chatted about our wonderful time in London. As a final gift for my flatmates, I made a little card with a caricature of each of the girls. I don't like to brag but as far as my somewhat Illustrator skills go, I think I nailed all of us. Tower Bridge doesn't look to shabby either. After we ate, we ended up grabbing dessert at a little Italian place and whole night just ended up being a pleasant experience. We ended up getting back to our flat fairly early because the all four of us were set to be volunteers at the London Marathon.
Now, THAT was an experience in itself. Melissa works for Age UK, one of the marathon sponsors, she convinced us all to sign up as volunteers. I signed up to be a volunteer photographer so I packed up my camera, telephoto lens and marched myself all the way to mile seven at Greenwich at 7 in the morning. We had to wait a good while until any photographer opportunities really came about, but it was lovely and warm so no problems. The first group of runners were the elite women followed by wheelchair men and women, and then the elite men. Seeing all these elite athletes was an absolutely incredible experience. You see people accomplish extraordinary things during the Olympics, but nothing compares to seeing it in person. I ended up getting a decent photo of Mo Farah, and two really awesome photos of Richard Whitehead. If seeing the elite athletes wasn't enough, it was amazing to see other runners, who are possibly in their first marathon, doing so well. By mile seven, people weren't looking too tired so there were so many cheerful faces that seemed so pleased that they were being cheered on the entire race. It honestly made me want to run a marathon. I may not do it for a very long time, but one day, I will run a marathon. The whole thing was very empowering and I found myself just smiling the entire time from such a positive atmosphere
 |
| Mo Farah in sunglasses |
 |
| Richard Whitehead |
To add to all the emotions of the day, I was able to spot many runners where small black ribbons on their vests for Boston. I think that is why the day felt so amazing; because it was a huge tribute to the Boston Marathon. There was moment of silence before the race and runners were asked to finish with their hand over their heart. I know I wasn't a runner, or that I was neither located at the start nor the finish, but it was still incredible to be apart of something that brought such a large group of different people together. It was truly inspiring and that is another reason I hope to run a marathon sometime in my life.
Right on cue, when I have a laundry of lists of exciting events to participate in, I began to feel myself getting sick. Still, I trudged on because I am a brave soul. I went to work and then prepared myself for the Phoenix concert. I was feeling so terrible that I thought I would go to the concert, stay for only two songs to get my money's worth and then bolt home to writhe in pain in my bed. Luckily, I was seeing Phoenix and as soon as they started I was instantly glued to my spot in the crowd. Thomas Mars is just an amazing performer and their shows are always spectacular. I was glad that the last song of the encore, he moved to the back of the standing pit and CLIMBED up into the balcony to sing for a bit. He then proceeded to climb back down and crowd surf himself back to the stage. When I saw them in 2010, I was able to get a hold of his shoe for a bit, but unfortunately this time around, I didn't get a chance to touch him at all. Oh well, it was good enough concert to make me forget momentarily that I was sick, so I would say it was a £30 well spent. This concert may have not been as emotionally draining as Of Monsters and Men but still, GOD can Phoenix put on a good concert.
Again, all these concerts are just making me overjoyed that I will be seeing Marina and the Diamonds in St. Louis only a week after I get back to the states. Live music is da best.
Cheers,
Janelle
No comments:
Post a Comment